Strategies of small ruminant production under intensive and subtropical climate conditions in the East Mediterranean region
Darcan N., Güney O.
in
Gabiña D. (ed.).
Analysis and definition of the objectives in genetic improvement programmes in sheep and goats. An economic approach to increase their profitability
Zaragoza : CIHEAM
Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 43 2000
pages 41-46
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--- D arcan N., Güney O. Strategies of small ru min an t produ ction u n der in ten sive an d su btropical climate con dition s in th e East Mediterran ean region . In : Gabiña D . (ed.). Analysis and definition of the objectives in genetic improvement programmes in sheep and goats. An economic approach to increase their profitability . Zaragoza : CIHEAM, 2000. p. 41-46 (Options Méditerranéennes : Série A.
Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 43)
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Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Çukurova University, 01330 Adana, Turkey
6800$5<±Studies on small ruminants at the Research Farm Unit of Çukurova University have focused on the modernization of husbandry methods (improved nutrition and housing and machine milking) and genetic improvement of local Awassi sheep and Hair (Black) goat in intensive and subtropical climate conditions. Over a period of 20 years, new synthetic sheep and goat genotypes have been developed. Our organization has a capacity to handle 1000 head of goat and 500 head of sheep. The genetic improvement methods used, methods relevant to modernization of husbandry, the present situation from technology transfer point of view and the possible improvements to be achieved in the near future will be dealt with in this paper.
.H\ZRUGVStrategies, small ruminant, production, East Mediterranean, subtropic.
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Turkey is one of leading countries in Europe, in terms of the number of sheep and with about 52 million heads of small ruminants (SR). On the contrary, sheep production performance is rather low.
SR could for various reasons play an important role for the country since they do not require costly inputs. Their meat, milk and converted dairy products are valuable goods in Turkey. Other SR products such as wool, skin are considered of secondary importance because of economic reasons.
Particularly, goat meat and goat milk are the main sources of animal origin protein for inhabitants in mountainous regions. A large part of SR is raised under extensive conditions. Most of the breeds kept are native ones with low producing capacity.
This paper deals with the present situation of small ruminants production at Çukurova University. In addition to this, the results of our research (Güney and Özcan, 1983; Güney, 1984; Güney HWDO 1984;
Güney and Biçer, 1986; Çayan and Güney, 1987a; Çayan and Güney, 1987b; Güney HW DO 1987;
Güney HW DO 1989; Güney, 1990; Kor, 1991; Biçer HW DO 1992a; Biçer HW DO 1992b; Güney HW DO 1992; Okan HW DO 1992; Koçak, 1995; Çelik HW DO 1997; Koluman Darcan and Güney, 1997) which were presented to national and international meetings are summarized.
Environment
East Mediterranean region, namely Çukurova, is situated in southern part of Turkey. Çukurova is on 27° North latitude and 35° East longitude. In this region, summer is hot and humidity is rather high;
winter is warm and rainy. The wind usually blow from south in summer and from north in winter.
Average temperature and humidity mainly range between 23-25°C and 70% in summer; 11-13°C and 65% in winter, respectively. January is the coldest month (9°C) where August is the hottest (28°C).
Annual precipitation is 646 mm.
Animal material
In Çukurova, we can meet two goat types. Kilis goat in lowlands and Hair goat in mountainous area. Some European origin dairy goat breeds have been used to improve the milk yield of native Hair goat. The principal breed used in these mentioned studies was Saanen which is a well-known breed.
In addition to this, a co-operative goat project was conducted by University of Çukurova, Faculty of Agriculture and the University of Hohenheim, West Germany. Using the German Fawn bucks as sire breed was programmed in this project. Also, Damascus goat was imported from Cyprus.
As regards the sheep production some crossbreeding experiments have been done for improving performance of native Awassi and Chios sheep where the exotic breeds such as Ile de France, Rambouillet and East-Friesian have been used.
Management
A large part of small ruminant is raised under extensive conditions in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. They are mainly kept on permanent grazing land and dry steppe areas with poor nutritive values in an extensive production system. Goat and sheep flocks are managed in transhumant and nomadic system with a flock size of 50-300 animals. Generally this area is hilly and mountainous.
The flocks at Research Farm of Çukurova University are housed in semi-open shed under semi intensive conditions. Only the southern part of the shed is open. Ewes and does graze 6-7 months in a year. Ewes are being milked by hand, does are by machine. All animals are group fed on concentrate (12% crude protein and 2300 kcal/kg ME), corn silage, alfalfa hay and oats.
Natural mating is practised in breeding season which is August onwards. Does are milked approximately 7 months. Ewes are not milked, lambs suckle all milk.
Our organization has a capacity to handle 1000 heads of goat and 500 heads of sheep.
7KHUHVHDUFKDFWLYLWLHV Genetic improvement studies
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Three exotic breeds were imported for improving milk performances of native Hair and Kilis goat.
Saanen was used for obtaining Taurus (62.5% Saanen + 25% Hair + 9.5% Kilis) and Çukurova (65.5%
Saanen + 34.5% Kilis) dairy prototypes. German Fawn was used for improving the second dairy goat breed (75% German Fawn + 25% Hair). Damascus was used for improving the last dairy prototype (50% Damascus + 22% Saanen + 16% Kilis + 12% Hair). The first purpose of these crossing studies is to improve milk performance of native breeds. Besides, improving meat performance and litter size of the mentioned genotypes are the other two aims of our studies. The research activities on fattening performances, milk yield and litter size are given below.
Table 1 shows the highest milk yield has been obtained from Kilis breed among native goat breeds.
As expected, the Hair goat has shown the lowest performance in term of milk production. Taurus and German Fawn x Hair crossbred types have highest lactation yield among new syntethic types. Taurus Type is especially adapted to lowlands, where, German Fawn x Hair crossbred Type is adapted to highlands and mountainous area.
Hair and Kilis goats are raised in extensive system. Therefore, the litter size performance of them should not be expected to be high. When Table 1 is examined, we observe that, crossbreeding of native breeds with some exotic breeds has developed litter size of crossbred genotypes.
Table 1. The lactation milk yield, lactation length and litter size of pure and crossbred goat types Genotypes Lactation yield
(kg)
Lactation length (day)
Litter size (kid/does)
Ref.
Hair 80-130 170-200 0.6-1.0 Güney HWDO (1989)
Kilis 205-248 260-300 1.1-1.2 Güney HWDO (1989)
Taurus 495 271 1.4-1.6 Güney HWDO (1992)
Çukurova 384 278 1.4-1.6 Güney HWDO (1992)
German Fawn x Hair 350-450 230-240 1.3-1.6 Güney HWDO (1989) Crossbred of Damascus 300-400 230-240 1.4-1.5 Güney HWDO (1989)
Fattening performances and carcass characteristics of native and new syntethic kids are given in Table 2. The kids of all studies were fed DGOLE. As seen in Table above, the daily weight gain of all types of kids vary between 90-198 g; concentrate consumption for 1 kg live weight gain of kids vary between 3.5-6.8 kg. Native Hair goat has higher fattening performances with respect to the new syntethic types. The fat content of Hair goat is higher than other types and each doe give single kid at birth. For this reason the kids of this group grow up faster and show better fattening performance.
Table 2. Fattening performances and carcass characteristics of pure Hair and new syntethic types†
Genotypes A B C D E F G H I J K Ref.
S x Hair (B1) †† Male 30.3 14.2 82 173 4.0 12.4 41.8 26.1 57.5 14.1 Güney HWDO (1984) Cast. ††††† 27.9 10.7 82 130 5.5 14.3 46.1 22.3 53.7 21.3 Güney HWDO (1984) S x Kilis (B1) Male 22.4 7.1 – 127 4.3 10.9 42.5 27.1 54.7 54.4 Güney (1984) GF x Hair (F1) ††† Male 30.0 11.6 56 198 3.5 14.6 48.1 22.7 51.4 14.0 Çayan and Güney
(1987b) Male 30.0 15.0 127 119 6.4 15.4 51.0 20.2 56.4 22.3 Koçak (1995) GF x Hair (B1) Cast 29.2 15.4 148 90 6.8 14.6 46.0 23.4 59.6 15.6 Koçak (1995) Male 19.5 18.9 63 130 4.5 15.9 54 – – – Çelik HWDO (1997) Hair Male 29.2 10.5 119 183 3.7 12.5 44.9 28.5 49.5 14.9 Çayan and Güney
(1987a)
Damascus Male 25.1 11.7 – 119 6.0 11.7 46.2 22.1 54.5 9.1 Biçer HWDO (1992b) Dam x Hair (F1) †††† Male 25.9 9.6 63 153 4.2 12.8 46.2 23.5 53.1 14.2 Kor (1991)
†A: Sex; B: Slaughter weight (kg); C: Live weight gain (kg); D: Fattening period (day); E: Daily weight gain (g); F: Feed conversion; G: Cold carcass weight (kg); H: Dressing (%); I: Bone weight (kg); J:
Muscle weight (kg); K: Fat weight (kg).
††S: Saanen; †††GF: German Fawn; ††††Dam: Damascus; †††††Cast: Castrated.
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Three breeds were imported for improving performances of sheep breeds. East-Frisien and Chios breeds were used for improving milk performance of native Awassi sheep. At the end of this study we have obtained Çukurova Assaf Type (75% Awassi + 25% East-Friesian) and Çukurova Dairy Sheep (50% Awassi + 50% Chios).
Ile de France and Rambouillet were imported for improving meat performance of local Awassi breed. We have obtained two meat type breeds (12.5% Awassi + 12.5% Chios + 75% Ile de France and 12.5% Awassi + 12.5% Chios + 75% Rambouillet).
In Table 3, we observe that, the highest milk yield has been obtained from Çukurova Assaf types breed among all crossbred sheep types. Also, litter size of the exotic breeds are higher than native breeds. The syntethic meat type breeds are not milked, and as a result, there is no data according to their milk performances.
Table 3. The lactation milk yield, lactation length and litter size of pure and crossbred sheep types Genotypes Lactation
yield (kg)
Lactation length (day)
Litter size (lamb/ewe)
Ref.
Awassi 80 150 0.8 Sönmez and Kaymakçi (1992)
Awassi 134 163 1.0 Koluman and Güney (1997)
Chios 150 150-170 0.9 Sönmez and Kaymakçi (1992)
Çukurova milk type 150 100-120 1.4-1.5 Unpublished
Çukurova assaf type 174 148 1.2 Koluman and Güney (1997) Crossbred of Ile de France 116 148 1.2-1.3 Unpublished
Crossbred of Rambouillet 125 151 1.3-1.6 Unpublished
According to Table 4, C x Aw (F1), Ram x Aw (F1) and IF x Aw (F1) types have shown the highest performance on daily weight gain and feed conversion which are very important two characteristics as an indication of fattening performances. Another interesting result of these studies is the fattening performances of native Awassi Type. Awassi is the well known dairy breed of East Mediterranean area. According to results obtained, Awassi breed can be successfully used for slaughter lamb production. However, Awassi carcasses have the highest subcutaneous fat content. Due to this fact, the docked Awassi lambs should have been used in future fattening studies.
Table 4. Fattening performances and carcass characteristics of pure Awassi and new syntethic types†
Genotypes A B C D E F G H I J K L Ref.
Awassi (Aw) 5.0 17.9 12 40.3 266 3.8 19.7 48.6 17.2 47.2 9.7 21.0 Biçer HWDO (92a) 4.4 18.2 12 43.0 301 3.8 18.7 45.2 20.3 54.6 7.4 15.5 Güney and Biçer (86) – 24.1 9 40.6 262 5.0 19.8 49.5 14.7 42.7 6.7 14.9 Güney HWDO (87) 4.5 18.9 8 40.0 281 3.7 19.1 46.6 19.5 54.3 6.6 16.6 Güney (90)
4.8 19.1 8 40.9 382 3.4 18.1 46.6 20.0 53.3 6.7 16.7 Güney and Özcan (83) 4.7 19.6 10 41.0 298 3.9 19.0 47.3 18.3 50.4 7.4 16.9 Average
Aw 5.1 23.6 9 40.0 255 4.7 – – – – – – Okan HWDO (92) Ç. Assaf – 24.2 8 40.1 283 4.0 18.1 46.8 18.2 57.5 7.4 10.2 Güney HWDO (87) If x Aw (f1) †† 5.2 16.9 12 44.6 338 3.3 19.9 47.6 18.6 53.7 10.2 15.7 Güney and Biçer (86) If x C x Aw††† 4.9 21.0 8 40.0 311 3.8 20.7 50.3 18.8 54.9 10.5 12.4 Güney (90)
R x C x Aw 4.4 19.9 8 40.0 253 4.2 19.2 46.7 19.5 53.4 9.5 14.2 Güney (90)
R x Aw (F1) 5.4 19.4 8 40.8 416 3.3 20.0 49.7 19.3 51.6 8.3 18.0 Güney and Özcan (83) Ram†††† 4.3 17.3 8 40.0 226 5.4 18.6 48.2 19.5 54.1 10.6 11.7 Güney (90) C x Aw (F1) 4.7 17.7 8 39.3 421 3.1 19.6 49.2 20.9 50.1 6.9 20.3 Güney and Özcan (83) C x Aw (B1) 4.1 16.5 8 41.1 300 3.7 19.8 47.1 20.1 53.2 8.5 15.8 Güney and Biçer (86)
†A: Birth weight (kg); B: Weaning weight (kg); C: Fattening period (week); D: Slaughter weight (kg); E:
Daily weight gain (g); F: Feed conversion (%); G: Cold carcass weight (kg); H: Dressing (%); I: Bone weight (kg); J: Muscle weight (kg); K: Intramuscular fat (kg); L: Subcutaneous fat (kg).
††If: Ile de France; †††C: Chios; ††††Ram: Rambouillet.
Economic analyses
Table 5 summarizes the result of economic analyses of the improvement studies in goat. According to result obtained, if the ratio of Hair group is considered as zero, Taurus and GF x Hair crossbred groups were more profitable than others. Besides, other two genotypes have shown better performances Hair does.
Differences between outcomes and incomes of crossbred genotypes according to native Awassi ewes were given in Table 6. Çukurova Milk and Assaf groups have the higher profit than others. All crossbred genotypes have higher incomes than Awassi.
Table 5. Differences between outcomes and incomes of crossbred does according to Hair does
Traits Hair Taurus Çukurova DM GF x Hair
Milked extra milk (kg/doe/lact.) 0 +390 +279 +245 +295 Extra live weight gain (kg/kid) 0 +3.7 –3.4 –0.9 +8.4
Milk incomes (US $/doe)† 0 +234 +167.4 +147 +177
Live weight income (US $/kid) †† 0 +6.3 –5.8 –1.5 +14.3
Profit for per doe (US $/doe) 0 +240.3 +161.6 +145.5 +191.3
†The price of 1 kg live weight 1.7 US $.
††The price of 1 kg milk 0.6 US $.
Table 6. Differences between outcomes and incomes of crossbred ewes according to Awassi does Traits Awassi Ç. Milk Ç. Assaf Cross. of Ile
de France
Cross. of Rambouillet Milked extra milk (kg/ewe/lact.) 0 +16 +40 –18 –9
Extra live weight gain (kg/lamb) 0 +9 –0.4 +11 +6
Milk incomes (US $/ewe) † 0 +12.8 +32.0 –14.4 –7.2
Live weight income (US$/lamb) †† 0 +24.3 –1.0 +29.7 +16.2 Profit for per ewe (US $/ewe) 0 +37.1 +31.0 +15.3 +9
†The price of 1 kg live weight 2.7 US $.
††The price of 1 kg milk 0.8 US $.
Genetic selection programme
3URJHQ\WHVWVWXG\DWJRDWXQLWIn the last decades, the increasing demand for breeding animal with high milk production has been popular within farmers in highlands and plain areas of Çukurova region in Turkey. The only source of breeding animals for these farmers is the dairy flock raised at Çukurova University, Research Farm of Agriculture Faculty. To provide high production breeding animals to goat keepers, it becomes a necessity to start a genetic selection programme for increased milk yield and multiply the breeding stock. So far, a genetic improvement programme has conducted at the Research Farm of the University since 1994. The German Fawn x Hair crossbred goats are the animal material of the project.
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(i) Developing, Awassi dependent, Assaf Type sheep to a syntethic Type by improving their meat properties. Main purpose in sheep breeding is developing a new syntethic Type by using Ile de France x Awassi crossbred.
(ii) First aim in dairy goat breeding is introducing crossbred dairy goat as dominant in the region, by increasing the German Fawn x Kil (native goat Type) crossbred line and by combining artificial insemination into progeny-test studies conducted in Faculty Farm on German Fawn x Kil crossbred.
Target here is obtaining a line with 500 litres milk yield and 100% twining rate. Besides, studies on developing management and physiological studies will be a current issue.
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